Put Down that Burger, LA: City Council Votes in Favor of Meatless Mondays

Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously last week to adopt a resolution that urges the city's 5 million plus residents to give Meatless Mondays a try.

Citing the potential to make residents healthier and reduce the city's impact on the environment, the move makes Los Angeles the largest city in the nation to sign a Meatless Monday resolution. The vote follows the city's recent good food agenda, which focuses on a city-wide movement to support local and sustainable food choices, according to Councilwoman Jan Perry who proposed the resolution along with Councilman Ed Reyes.

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Councilwoman Perry has also called for a ban of fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles to help the area combat obesity. According to Perry, if enough of the city's residents began to observe Meatless Mondays, saturated fat intake and risks of heart disease would drop nearly 20 percent. "While this is a symbolic gesture, it is asking people to think about the food choices they make. Eating less meat can reverse some of our nation's most common illnesses," Perry was quoted in the Huffington Post.

Councilman Reyes admits that some of his support for the bill came as a result of his own son, who was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.“The issue is, how does a local municipality engage in this and how do we create change? If we do it one plate at time, one meal, one day, we are ratcheting down the impact on our environment. We start with one day a week and then, who knows, maybe we can change our habits for a lifetime.”

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Los Angeles joins other major U.S. cities in adopting Meatless Monday initiatives including San Francisco and Washington D.C.